OPINION: US Polish Diaspora Leaders Urge Caution in Supporting Ukraine

Thirteen prominent members of the Polish-American diaspora have written an open letter to the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Polish President Andrzej Duda ahead of their meeting with the US President Joe Biden on March 12. The letter points to the critical importance of the meeting.

In the letter, diaspora members voice their concerns about Poland sending troops to Ukraine which in their view could lead to conflict escalation with Russia and have catastrophic consequences for Poland and the world.

The signatories of the letter express skepticism as to Ukraine’s ability to win the war with Russia and issue a dire warning that dragging Poland into the war is going to be viewed by Russia as an existential threat. That, in turn, is going to lead to the destruction of Poland.

‘’We urge Polish politicians to refrain from offensive rhetorical excesses and empty threats, which regrettably indicate an inability to realistically assess Poland’s capabilities in a situation of actual military confrontation,’’ the prominent members of the Polish-American diaspora warn in the letter.

The quote appears to be a veiled reference to the Speaker of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish Parliament), Szymon Hołownia, who recently said that Poland is going to ‘’grind Putin into the ground’’ in an event of a Russian attack on Poland.

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It’s unclear how much of an impact, if any, the letter is going to have on Polish and American policymakers but many Polish and American government officials are undoubtedly going to find the tone and timing of the letter and its content surprising, even suspicious.